‘Bride Of Frankenstein’ Should Be Next Universal Monsters Reboot

While some of the classic Universal Monster movies were inspired by folklore or literature, 1935’s The Bride Of Frankenstein was a whole-cloth sequel to 1931’s Frankenstein. The latter was adapted (loosely) from Mary Shelley’s novel—but in the book, the attempt to create her is abandoned by Victor Frankenstein. Frankenstein’s monster takes his revenge by murdering Frankenstein's new wife Elizabeth.

The film The Bride of Frankenstein—which is amazing—develops a completely new scenario. Featuring Elsa Lanchester in the dual role of Mary Shelley and the Monster's mate, the title character is, in fact, brought to life. I won’t spoil the end of the movie here (seriously, you should watch it), but the Bride is only given a few minutes of screen time before the film is over.

Universal Pictures has made several attempts to to revisit Bride of Frankenstein. As part of their recent wave of reboots, there have been rumblings of a new Bide of Frankenstein, including a version that would have starred Javier Bardem and Angelina Jolie. On February 11, 2020, Variety reported that producer Amy Pascal and actor John Krasinski may be in play for the project.

Here’s the thing: No other character has had made such an impact on popular culture with so little screen time. It is time for Universal to figure out how to make this work. Figure it out, people!

Notes Cinema Blend’s Sarah El-Mahmoud:

What’s great about Bride of Frankenstein is it’s not this forced female version of something. It’s already an established property that exists. But instead of a remake focusing solely on The Creature and Frankenstein, if could be about the horrors of coming into a world where you’re expected to serve this specific expectation or design that’s been intended for you. Following the Bride as she is placed with Frankenstein and then learning that she must break free from him is an interesting approach to the material. It can easily discuss the standards for women in society, codependency or patriarchal control. Under the right vision and execution, it could be the perfect followup to The Invisible Man because that's exactly the way in which it made the classic character interesting again.

In this video, Neil Gaiman explains the impact the film Bride of Frankenstein had on him as a youngster…

Neil Gaiman On Bride Of Frankenstein | BFI

In this video, filmmaker Guillermo del Toro reveals his insights and personal connections to Bride of Frankenstein…

Guillermo del Toro on "The Bride of Frankenstein"